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‘Don’t Make The Score About You:’ Insight From A Santa Clarita Animation Composer

‘Don’t Make The Score About You:’ Insight From A Santa Clarita Animation Composer

Gregory Hinde, a Santa Clarita animation composer who has helped create the score for shows such as “The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy,” took the time to talk to KHTS about his perspective on creating music for film and television.

Growing up, Hinde was surrounded by music. As a child, his family always had pianos in their home.

However, Hinde’s view of music was forever changed when a woman came to his childhood home with a guitar.

“She started playing (the) guitar, and that guitar, that was just cool because that was just a completely different thing,” he said. “Guitar was a bit more liberating.”

As Hinde established himself as an animation composer within the industry, he had the opportunity to work on Cartoon Network’s “Evil Con Carne,” along with the final season of Nickelodeon’s “The Wild Thornberrys.”

It was after these that he was given the chance to do some of what many consider his most iconic work on the Cartoon Network show, “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.”

“The best theme songs are things that you hear in another room, and you go, ‘Oh, it’s on!’” Hinde said. “‘Grim Adventures’ I think really did that very well.”

Over the course of his career, Hinde has worked on dozens of projects, including creating much of the music that can be heard within Six Flags Magic Mountain.

While it may be easy for Hinde to develop an ego as a result of his large and varied catalogue, he remains grounded by one simple truth.

“In scoring, I am a supporting actor,” he said. “I am not the reason that the movie was created. Make it about the characters.”

When Hinde sits down to create a score, he watches for key moments where music can compliment the story being told, such as when a father slammed his hands on a table out of frustration in a recent project of Hinde’s.

“You watch for things like that; you know that that’s where you want to assist that storytelling,” he said. “You don’t want to just blanket right over the top of it. You want to hit those points, make that a poignant time within the film.”

This approach to composing for animation has helped him greatly in his current project, “Beo N Peno,” a cartoon that harkens back to the days of “Tom & Jerry.”

“There’s no real dialogue, so the story has to be done by action and music, which is not an issue,” Hinde said. “It’s actually quite nice.”

Hinde’s methodology of keeping his ego in check also helps him when he gets frustrated or when he cannot naturally compose music.

“Just because you call yourself a creative doesn’t mean you’re always going to be creative,” he said. “There are times where it is best just to put it aside. Don’t become frustrated or angry with the process.”

When such times happen to Hinde, he likes to go on walks and runs in order to clear his head and “get away from it.”

“I would rather spend one hour being productive rather than three trying to be productive,” he said.

Hinde’s advice to people who want to become animation composers echoed his methodology of humility.

“Don’t make the score about you,” he said. “First and foremost, you are a supporting actor.”


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‘Don’t Make The Score About You:’ Insight From A Santa Clarita Animation Composer

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About Michael Brown

Michael Brown has lived in Santa Clarita his whole life. Graduating from Saugus High School in 2016, he continued to stay local by attending The Master’s University, where he achieved a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. Michael joined KHTS in January of 2018 as a news intern, and has since gone on to become the News Director for the KHTS Newsroom. Since joining KHTS, Michael has covered many breaking news stories (both on scene and on air), interviewed dozens of prominent state and federal political figures, and interacted with hundreds of residents from Santa Clarita. When he is not working, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, as well as reading any comic book he can get his hands on.